National Automobile Museum

The automobile museum at Encamp holds around eighty vehicles running from the earliest years of motoring, including a Pinette steam car of 1885, along with motorcycles and a substantial collection of bicycles, plus period accessories, tools and advertising. It is a private collection taken on by the state, and it covers the technical development rather than the glamour end of the subject. The collection was assembled privately over decades before the state took it on, which is why it runs deep in some periods and skips others entirely.

What you actually see

• The 1885 steam car - the Pinette, the oldest vehicle in the collection.
• The early motoring years - vehicles from the beginning of the industry.
• The bicycle collection - the substantial holding alongside the cars.
• The period material - the tools, accessories and advertising shown with them.

When to go

Year round; the museum keeps daytime hours and closes some days. Winter hours are reduced. An hour or two covers it.

Honest expectations

The museum is modest in scale and closes on some days. Labelling is mostly in Catalan. It is aimed at people with an existing interest.

Nearby

Casa Cristo is nearby, and Meritxell is northeast.